Canon 300mm f/4 L IS

[Schnauzer]

The Canon 300mm f/4 L IS according to the reviews at FM is a very sharp lense with out a lot of problems . With a 1.4 tc you would have 420mm . I wonder how this would be for birds ? The price is also quite attractive for a Canon prime .
Anyone have any experience with this or know anything about it ?

[JerseyJay]

Ron,

I don’t know about Canon 300 f/4 but I will ask Patrick, our new member, to chime in with his Nikon 300 f/4 experience. I think his work is amazing and a perfect example that you don’t need amazingly fast f/2.8 lens to capture bird photographs.

Of course we have our own Eric who can jump in with his 300 f/4 experience.

[Schnauzer]

Thanks Jay .

[Obliviou$]

It's a prime L glass, of course it's sharp.
I've never heard anything else about this lense. Produces amazing results, even with a converter (1.4, I find 2.0 a bit soft)
Colours, contrasts, bokeh all top notch from the results I've seen.

And it's so much lighter than the 2.8 :-D

[Ibn]

Similar experiences with what has been said before. The 300mm f/4 lenses are the entry to wildlife photography and does a great job with decent size and bold birds. With the 1.4x TC, which increases the focal length, you don't get any noticeable image degradation, which makes this a no-brainer. 99% of the time, the 1.4x TC is glued onto the D70. There's a significant reduction in speed with the D70 with the TC, but I don't think the 20D has that problem with their TC (someone correct me here if I'm wrong).

Patrick does have some great shot with his 300mm and D2H and hopefully he'll chime in.

My only caveat with the lens is the focal length. The 420mm that you can get with the lens (via TC) is still a bit short for shots that you're aspiring to capture (eagles and ospreys).

[Schnauzer]

Eric ,
The eagles on the river can be a far distance away although I have see them soaring low and close at times . In the nesting areas you can get quite close although if I remember right they did have some restrictions when they were nesting ( I haven't been their in about 5 years ) . I can remember seeing all kinds of photographers their with some fancy equipment . I just had a brain storm -- I could go and take pictures of the photographers and their equipment . I also know of a place 20 minutes from home where ospreys nest . Big high power lines go through the forest not far from the river and they have built many nests on the towers . Few people know about this place and I have never seen anyone their . I have even seen them bring what looked to be a snake to one of the nests .
Other than when they are on the river far off it seems that 420mm would be plenty but then that is why I am here asking .


Another brain storm -- my wife is on vacation for a week again next week . If I can tear myself away from building this damn house for a day we will take a ride to the area and take some pictures of the nesting area. I think it called Moosehorn preserve or some thing similar .

[meriadoc]

the non-IS version is actually sharper than the IS version. But you'd need to buy it second hand....

[hir0]

There's a significant reduction in speed with the D70 with the TC
Hi Eric, I'm not doubting you at all - but this is not the case in my limited teleconverter experience. also, i know we have different versions of the tc, and we are using different lenses too. i dunno. it seems pretty snappy to me on the 70-200. my 2x on the other hand is a very significant slowdown to me.

[Ibn]

Man...that actually sounds like a decent place to actually test out some lenses. Would be worth a shot and introduce yourself to those photographers, let them know that you're shopping around for a long lens (add in the part about not being able to rent one if that helps :) ), and see if they'll let you take a few shots with their lens. If they won't let you mount their lens on your 20D, then ask them if you can put your CF card into their camera and take it with their setup.

As for the speed, I have no doubt that it's still pretty snappy on a f/2.8 lens. The problem is most likely with f/4 lenses in the beginning.

[Schnauzer]

Wow !! Thats a great idea about the CF card . Even if they shot a few shots with my card . Thanks Eric .

[meriadoc]

wait wait wait....

unless I've been living under a rock for the past few months (which is highly possible) don't you already have a 100-400 ? Or did you get rid of it?

If you do, I can't figure out why you want to go and get a 300mm when you've already got that reach...

[Schnauzer]

I think you have my lense confused with Rich's . I am quite sure Rich has a 100 - 400mm . I have a 70 - 200 that I just love .